Dana, I have not received any funding at this point for George Mason or Emerson. GMU is attractive because it's a public university (cheaper tuition) and a smaller program. The scholarship I got at New School is 4500 a school year. Even with the scholarship, TNS tuition would be about twice what it is at Mason. However, Mason is a three-year program, whereas TNS is two years. Cost of living around Mason would probably be cheaper . . . but it's not New York! Argh! I'm going nuts. I don't know what to do. Emerson right now is in third place, because tuition is about the same as TNS but no scholarship.

I'm going to Queens University of Charlotte for Fiction. That means I turned down an offer from Spalding and I still haven't heard back from Stone Coast or Farleigh Dickinson. I'm glad I was able to make a decision, because waiting for replies from those two school this late would have killed me. I'd love to hear from others that have decided on attending Queens. Lets starting building our new community!

Unless my mailbox magically holds a Brown acceptance this afternoon, I'm 99% sure I'll be going to Cornell (for poetry). This means I won't be going to Michigan, UMass-Amherst, or UNH, & already took my name off the waitlists @ Virginia & Minnesota. Still waiting on Oregon & Florida International, but really seriously just on Brown. Oh, Brown. Oh, the mailman. I just kind of want this stupid process to be decided & over with so I can start perusing Ithaca's craigslist in the middle of my workday.

I have something like one and a half choices right now. I'm in at the University of Florida and will be visiting next week. However, I am on the waitlist for the Michener Center and it was hinted I might know something by early April. If I get offered the spot, I'd like to visit Austin as well, but it seems unlikely that I would get offered a spot and have time to visit by the decision deadline.

Still waiting to hear from Mississippi, as well as from Brown and Virginia, though I will presume rejections from the latter two and Mississippi is a long-shot.

I just accepted my offer from Arizona State for poetry today. They've been incredibly generous with funding and so sweet to me throughout this whole process. It's an irresistible offer. I was going to wait until after I visited next week, but decided to just go for it. What an incredible time this has all been.

I'll be turning down my spot at University of Maryland later today, as well as my spot on the waitlist at Ohio State. I still haven't heard officially from Houston or Purdue, but I'm assuming those schools are rejections at this point.

Congratulations on Columbia. Lucie Brock-Broido is an absolutely amazing teacher and one of the most delightful and nutty people I may know. You'll be in good hands there!!!

On Sunday via e-mail, I officially accepted University of Missouri's admisisons offer to the PhD program in creative writing, for poetry. I had been in Columbia visiting the few days before and, aside from having gotten into my top-choice program (and getting rejected from Utah and FSU--and likely a Houston rejection--which means no other acceptances to consider), I wanted to wait until I saw the campus, saw the town, met the people before I gave 'official' word. I'm psyched beyond belief.

I know you'll be going elsewhere, but since you've visited, would you mind sharing your impression of Columbia ? I'll be visiting in a few weeks, but it might be after the 15th, so I might have to accept the offer without any tangible evidence of the school being a good fit for me. Did you meet anyone else from the poetry division ? Any current students ?

Sorry, I just feel as in the dark about the environment as I do about the intentionally hazy concept of funding at Columbia.

And congrats on Missouri. PhDs in Creative Writing are a relatively new concept, aren't they ? I'm very intrigued by the idea...

Oh, I haven't visited Columbia. I just know Lucie Brock-Broido from a workshop set-up in the summers up here in Boston. Sorry to confuse. I do know, however, that funding is nearly impossible to get at Columbia. It's more a school of the arts thing with funding and monies available to individual departments and far less a desire of the program to give individual writers funding. If you can hack the cost of the program and the loans and living in NYC while a poor grad student and such, then it could be worthwhile.

And Phd in creative writing--yes, still a very new concept. The programs are tough as nails to get into, and I'm really, really lucky to have gotten into my first choice. I'm psyched!

And re:funding, yep, I've already heaved all the heavy sighs I can muster over funding. I'm aware of how elusive (and minuscule!) packages are at Columbia, but, above all, I'd just like to know the cold, hard number, even if it's $0.56, you know ? As of the present, I keep hearing the word "April" murmured, with no concrete assertions of--well, anything. But it's cool, I'll figure it out !

how did you accept? i had to send in my little answer slip a few weeks ago to say i needed until april 15th to decide, so now i don't have anything to send in... do i just call the grad office or what? i want to be official, but i don't have anything on paper.

And I hope you're good at bowling because the poetry team needs your help desperately.

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I just accepted my offer from Arizona State for poetry today. They've been incredibly generous with funding and so sweet to me throughout this whole process. It's an irresistible offer. I was going to wait until after I visited next week, but decided to just go for it. What an incredible time this has all been.

When I was accepted to three schools last week it was amazing and wonderful and I couldn't believe it. I was prepared to be rejected from every school I applied to, and then I wasn't. I was validated! I was a good writer!

But this week I'm terrified. This week my mind is saying, "Oh, shit, you've done it now. You've tricked everyone into thinking you're a good writer, now what the hell are you going to do?"

Is anyone freaking out a little bit? Like I spent the last year of my life preparing for this, and now it's here, it's all happening, and I'm losing my cool, I'm terrified that I have no good ideas, that I'm going to have writer's block, etc.

Anyone? Anyone?

Maybe it's just stress? I just quit my job, sold my condo, am planning my move for fall, and finishing my thesis for my MA, and I'm wondering if I need a therapist. I promise I'm not ussually this nuerotic.